Ch: Xuyou
Chaofu. A painting subject representing two legendary Chinese scholar-hermits
famous for their extreme aversion to improper behavior. According to tradition,
in the Xia dynasty, Xuyou, upon hearing that Emperor
Yao 尭 had proposed to relinquish the throne to him, refused the offer and
washed his defiled ears in the Ying 頴 River before returning to Mt. Ji 箕.
Chaofu, feeling that the water that Xuyou used to clean his ears had polluted
the river, refused to let his ox drink there. Their behavior became a parable
for Confucian devotion to principle and eremitic purity. Chinese paintings
of the pair include works by Wu Wei (Jp: Go I 呉偉; 1459-1508, Tokugawa 徳川
Art Museum) and Wang E (Jp: Ou Gaku 王諤; fl. early 16c). The story was known
in Japan by the 13c, and was depicted by artists beginning in the Muromachi
period. Notable Japanese examples include paintings by Kanou school *Kanouha
狩野派 members Kanou Eitoku 狩野永徳 (1543-90, Tokyo National Museum) and Kanou Sanraku 狩野山楽 (1559-1635,
Tokyo National Museum), as well as parody *mitate-e
見立絵 prints by wood-block print *ukiyo-e
浮世絵 artists such as Suzuki Harunobu 鈴木春信 (1725-70). While Japanese versions
usually show Xuyou washing his ears in a waterfall, Chinese works follow
literary sources and depict only a river. Xuyou is also associated with
a gourd for scooping water. Although his only possession, Xuyou eventually
discarded the gourd because it clattered noisily when the wind blew.

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